Welcome to Week LV of 'Fishing Parkland Shorelines'. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert. In the following weeks I'll attempt to give those anglers who love to fish but just don't have access to a boat, a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish.
Readers will recall a couple of weeks ago I wrote briefly about the Bug Chucker Cup, a fly fishing tournament launched in 2012 in the Roblin, MB. area.
The event was developed after the area successfully hosted the Canadian Nationals in 2010, and local fly fishermen like Bill Pollock saw the potential for an annual event.
The region is well-suited to such an event given the wealth of trout lakes within reasonable distance of Roblin.
The BCC is held with teams of two fishermen spending time on four lakes; Twin Lakes offers up Tiger Trout (a hybrid of brook and brown trout), Persse Lake has browns and brookies, Bench Rainbow and East or West Goose Lake having rainbows and browns.
Pollock said the lakes are part of a system of trout lakes cared for by the Fish and Lake Improvement Program for the Parkland Region (FLIPPR).
FLIPPR is an organization dedicated to trout in western Manitoba.
Its vision is a straightforward one. "By working with its partners, FLIPPR strives to create a world class stillwater trout fishing destination that provides economic, tourism and recreation opportunities for Manitoba's Â鶹ÊÓƵwest Parkland region."
Now in my case the fly fishing skills are so far from competition level that if I had entered I would have feared severe lake kill from the trout laughing to death at my feeble efforts.
But I was still intrigued by the idea of the BCC being a fly fishing competition within such easy reach of local fishermen.
I recognize some fishermen will shy from competitive events. My favourite author John Gierach actually discussed his own limited competition fishing experience, and the fact he finds it takes something away from the relaxing solitude he so enjoys about fly fishing.
That is, I suppose obvious. Whenever you keep score you want to win, otherwise why are you keeping score? So there is a level of pressure to win.
But I can tell you from the smiles and laughs I saw as this year's competitors, at the BCC came off Persse Lake, there was not a lot of signs of excess pressure or the loss of the joy of fishing.
And fly fishing Friday morning was not exactly a wonderful one.
In fact it was wildly windy, the sort of wind as I headed east that morning I was wondering if I might arrive to find the event delayed because of it. It was the kind of wind that had the car buffeted to the side emerging from a bluff on the side of the road, and meeting a semi was something you sort of braced for.
But it was sunny.
Oh right, that isn't usually good news in terms of trout fishing either.
Then as we crest a hill arriving at Persse Lake, about 50 kilometres north of Roblin just east off Highway #83, I can see whitecaps rippling over what is really a pretty small lake. I suppose that is what saved the event. Had it been a lake such as Good Spirit, where the wind could really pick up water and roll it, going out in a belly boat would have been impossible.
But at Perrse the lake was peppered with BCC competitors fighting waves and wind in hopes of hooking a rainbow or brown.
"The waves were coming over the top of me on the far side," Randy Bossuyt would tell me as he packed away his small inflatable craft for the move to nearby Twin Lakes for the afternoon session. But he was still smiling when he said it.
Of course it was Bossuyt who arrived back at shore after the three-hour morning on Perrse, pronounced it "hard fishing" then added it still beat being at work.
Bossuyt likes to fish, and he likes competition. He said he used to fish in a FLIPPR event, but lamented it was just for fun and lacked a competitive aspect.
"I've always liked the idea of getting together and having something competitive at the same time," he said.
Bossuyt, from Dauphin, and Cal Boscow of The Pas, were partners in 2012, the pair topping the modest seven-team event with 19 fish caught in total and the longest three from each lake totaled 635 cm.
This year Boscow's son could make the event, so the pair split for this year, but they are still close friends, although you get the feeling they'd compete for bragging rights anytime the pair found themselves on the same water.
This year the competitive level of the event was certainly higher as the idea of the BCC is catching on. There were 16 teams, more than double the initial year.
And then there was the weather. More than a few of the Persse lake competitors Friday morning, came off the lake with only stories of a hit that got away or their line getting fouled in the propeller of their electric motors thanks to wind and waves.
Boscow however boasted of three fish, including a 54-centimetre brown. That is a fish that would make fighting any amount of wind worthwhile.
So what was his secret?
Boscow summed it up simply enough.
"You've got to put your time in," he said.
Bossuyt was quick to agree on that point.
"That's exactly what it is. You've got to put your time in," he said.
That includes time on the water, and off.
Boscow said in bad conditions it's important to draw on past experience. So he records catches in a journal,
noting things such as weather, fly used and area of a lake. Then when in a competition such as the BCC he can hit the water with a plan, going back to what at least worked once.
Bossuyt said a morning when the elements are against you is a lesson to be learned as well. He said moving on to Twin Lakes he would try some different flies and techniques based as much on what didn't work on Perrse as anything else.
"I at least learned what didn't work," he said with a smile.
This year's BCC champions were the team of Bill Pollock from Roblin, and Matt Brown from Souris, MB., with a total fish length of 382 cm.
The largest fish caught, was a 62-cm Rainbow Trout in Bench Lake by Mac Warner from Moose Jaw.
Total number of fish caught during tournament by all 16 teams was 58.
Oh, and next year I might just have to convince local fly fishing friends like Ray Bailey or Patrick Thomson to partner up with me so I can experience the 2014 BCC from the water.
And now sticking with trout I came across a really interesting blog on a recent net surfing session.
The Drag Free Drift (thedragfreedrift.blogspot.ca) is penned by Albertan Nick Sliwkanich, so rates highly to check out because it has relevance for Canadian Prairie fishermen. While conditions won't be a complete match across the region, general ideas, concepts and approaches transfer pretty well.
Thanks to the immediacy of email, I connected with Nick to get some additional information on his fine blogging effort, starting with what draws a fisherman to do a blog.
In Sliwkanich's case is was because he also had an interest in writing.
"When I was in university I took a non-fiction creative writing course," he told me. "I had managed to have a few articles published in some Canadian fishing magazines by then, and figured that if I really wanted to keep doing this 'writing' I'd better take some courses and learn how to be more effective and well-rounded. One of the tasks in this course was to create a blog and write something every day. That wasn't The Drag Free Drift, but it did get me thinking about blogs, which at that time were new, and writing often to stay fresh.
"A couple years later, I think June 2010, while mulling over a few things after a day of guiding it had just sort of occurred to me that blogging would be an interesting way to share ideas, tips, product reviews, or whatever else I felt like, with fellow fly fishers. That's what I love most about blogging I think, that you can share pretty much whatever you want; the topics can be pretty loose, so long as the theme, in my case 'fly fishing' is maintained. You don't need to worry about a copy editor, because you're the editor."
Sliwkanich said he never had a real hard goal for the blog, but is surprise how it has drawn reader interest.
"Three years ago when I started this blog I just figured that it was free, writing often helped keep me thinking about writing, and if this thing grew in readership I'd be happy enough. So seeing as it's now 2013 and I'm still working on the Drift, things are great," he said, adding "I'm actually surprised about the amount of great feedback I've received; I have followers from all over the world, but most of my readers are from the USA, Canada, and then the UK and Russia.
"I get more and more views each month, and every once in a while a new follower, so I'd say I'm more than pleased with what the site is achieving so far.
"As for specific goals, I don't really have any.
"I can fail to reach a goal, but this was, I can just go along for the ride. What I really dig is when people write and say, 'Hey. Your site helped me catch a few fish,' or 'I really enjoy coming here to read your stuff'."
Sliwkanich said in terms of sharing information, the blog works amazingly well as a medium.
"A blog is a cool thing," he said. "Sorry to sound like a teenager there, but it's true. You have sort of free-reign to do what you want, and that gives you a lot of interesting angles. With The Drag Free Drift I actually get a lot more feedback, mostly positive, than I'd have ever thought.
"I don't get that many responses, in the big scheme of things. There are sites I follow that get dozens per post, and those authors manage to keep the posts updated daily. I like the posts where I get some kind of response, because it means that someone enjoyed it enough to take the time to comment, and I love getting the odd email from a reader looking for advice or simply to say that they enjoy reading, that it has helped them learn more about fly fishing, that sort of thing.
"I am surprised by readers sometimes. Probably my most memorable one was from Fly Fishing Team USA member George Daniel, who personally emailed me after he found my review of his book Dynamic Nymphing. I really loved his book and that was a total class act."
So has Sliwkanich always been an avid fisherman?
"I guess I have been," he replied to the question. "I have no clue when I started, and no idea what my first fish was. My family has a cabin on a pike, perch, and walleye lake, so I grew up fishing for them pretty much every day during summer break. During the summers I would fish with my Dad, brother, uncles, and Gido, so it definitely was a family thing for me. I have some great friends, Tim, Andy, Ted, who I've fished with, and who'd taken me fishing often, my whole life.
"Now, in those days I was solely a gear fisherman, which was great growing up; it kept life simple!"
But Sliwkanich would evolve to pick the fly rod. I get that allure, although I would never give up a spincast and days of fighting pike either.
"I read an article in an old magazine about fly fishing for brown trout in the Alberta foothills, and it was all over," he recalled. "I was probably 12 at that point. The images in my mind of trout fishing with a fly rod just took me over, and that was that. So I started fly fishing at age 13. My parents got me a cheap kit for my birthday if I remember correctly. My dad and brother also took it up at that time, and we went through those initial growing pains together. I don't think any of us caught a fish that first summer.
"For me, fly fishing and tying is what I'm avid about. Gear fishing I enjoy when I do it, but it isn't my passion in the same way.
"Fly fishing is about the total experience. For other anglers it may be different, but for me fly fishing means I need to understand everything about my quarry, its environment, the food sources, etc to do well. It can't be done casually if you want to experience consistent success. I try to be as skilled as possible in all matters of fly fishing, so I end up spending a large amount of time on the water each year.
"Fly fishing is so all 'round; casting (in many different styles), fly tying, different fish species, habitats, and all kinds of variables. I mean, you're fooling a fish into thinking that some rabbit fur and a couple wrapped feathers are a real food item. You can do everything yourself, from tying the fly and using only your own two hands to move it in a natural manner. There is just no way you can stop learning if you don't want to."
In arranging the interview Sliwkanich had made it clear he didn't share details of location of fishing holes. A lot of fishermen are like that, and I understand keeping 'honey holes' on a need-to-know basis.
"Of course I have my favourite spots. What fisherman doesn't?" he asked. "I will say that I love the central Alberta brown trout creeks. The style of fishing there is so interesting; you need to be skilled, creative, and observant to do well consistently.
"Brown trout in general are a favourite of mine to catch. They are often tougher to fool than other trout, but eat a large amount of food off the surface, so you can usually get at least a couple fish on dry flies if you're on flowing water. But they are spooky, and you need to use good techniques to get the rewards you want. The challenges of those small waters and the big brown trout keep me going back to favourite sections of these rivers, and exploring new ones trying to find some more big browns."
